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Egypt set to become no1 outsourcing destination
By ITP.net staff writer on Saturday, September 08, 2007
Egypt could soon replace India as the first choice for businesses looking to outsource elements of their IT solutions, a firm has claimed.
LINKdotNET, one of the largest internet service and solutions providers in the Middle East reports that Egyptian software development companies are increasingly attracting business from the Arabian Gulf region.
The company points to a recent study by Yankee Group that dubbed Egypt "the new India of the Middle East" as further evidence of this shift. Hanan Abdel Meguid, chief solutions officer, LINKdotNEt and CEO of LINK Development insists that Middle Eastern businesses can benefit from 'nearshoring' and that making the change can increase operational efficiency.
"Because Egypt shares a lot of its culture with the Middle East region we have a lot to offer companies looking to outsource," he says. "We are competitive in terms of pricing, but the main benefit for companies in the Gulf is our ability to meet their business needs in a more complete manner."
As well as cultural continuities, Meguid says, local outsourcing can improve the logistics of your business. "One of the issues if you are outsourcing to India can be the different time zones, which is not an issue for most of Middle Eastern countries if you are dealing with Egypt. We also appreciate that certain events and dates are important to the region and can accommodate that."
Of course, the most obvious benefit of outsourcing to Egypt is the shared language, Meguid notes.
"The Arabic language is a great differentiator for us - even though there are dialects across the Arabic world, the popularity of Egyptian film and music means we can communicate successfully and are at home with building Arabic systems.
LINKdotNET is launching its Unified Communications solution at GITEX Technology Week.
The solution integrates various communication tools in order to facilitate collaboration across virtual teams. It is designed to enhance work mobility by allowing employees to access content they would normally have on PCs, using their mobile devices.
LINKdotNET, one of the largest internet service and solutions providers in the Middle East reports that Egyptian software development companies are increasingly attracting business from the Arabian Gulf region.
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"Because Egypt shares a lot of its culture with the Middle East region we have a lot to offer companies looking to outsource," he says. "We are competitive in terms of pricing, but the main benefit for companies in the Gulf is our ability to meet their business needs in a more complete manner."
As well as cultural continuities, Meguid says, local outsourcing can improve the logistics of your business. "One of the issues if you are outsourcing to India can be the different time zones, which is not an issue for most of Middle Eastern countries if you are dealing with Egypt. We also appreciate that certain events and dates are important to the region and can accommodate that."
Of course, the most obvious benefit of outsourcing to Egypt is the shared language, Meguid notes.
"The Arabic language is a great differentiator for us - even though there are dialects across the Arabic world, the popularity of Egyptian film and music means we can communicate successfully and are at home with building Arabic systems.
LINKdotNET is launching its Unified Communications solution at GITEX Technology Week.
The solution integrates various communication tools in order to facilitate collaboration across virtual teams. It is designed to enhance work mobility by allowing employees to access content they would normally have on PCs, using their mobile devices.
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User Comments (6 comments) 
Posted by Sherif, KWT on 17 September 2007 at 14:00 UAE time
I wonder why we have these subjective patriotic comments! EGYPT is the NO 1 OUTSOURCING DESTINATION in the MENA region - fact. Commenting on who is no1 worldwide - INDIA. They got an early start & uncountable human resources.
Posted by Hammad, Saudi Arabia on 12 September 2007 at 17:48 UAE time
Quality & Presentation is the key now for middle east market. You will find many IT companies in India lacks with Quality & Presentation (specially english), if IT companies in Egypt can provide both of these i am sure skills and manpower is there to replace most importantly they can speak the language Arabic.
Posted by Govind, Dubai, UAE on 12 September 2007 at 13:55 UAE time
Its a common trend these days. 5 companies open shop in ur country and presto the recepient country starts flying the 'I am No.1 Outsourcing Destination' banner. The last time I heard it was in Malaysia.
Dude....quantity or quality...the numbers will never add up against India for Egypt. This aint patriotic jingoism. Its pure facts.
Posted by SHASHIDHAR.S.O., CEO, ADVANCED SPECIALTY PROJECTS, DAMMAM, SAUDI ARABIA on 11 September 2007 at 21:00 UAE time
It is good to read that "THE MOTHER OF ALL CIVILIZATIONS" is waking up to compete with "THE FATHER OF ALL CIVILIZATIONS" (or is it the other way round?) But the claim itself should be swallowed with a pinch of salt, at least in the near foreseeable future. India has all the advantages of an early starter & a large pool of talented English speaking professionals, to retain its position as THE GLOBAL LEADER in BPO for quite some time. Egypt has its own benefit of the regional language and DEFINITELY has all chances to emerge as the number 1 outsourcing destination, but limited to MENA region. It should be satisfied with being labeled as the INDIA OF THE MIDDLE-EAST, at best unless it starts giving more importance to internationally relevant standards of education. A couple of universities like AUC cannot build up a globally competent pool of talent. Just a single city in India like Bangalore churns out more than the total number Doctors, Engineers & software programmers graduating out of the whole Mid-east / North Africa region year after year. If somebody wants to argue that the QUALITY is more important and not the QUANTITY, I suggest them to shed their FROG IN A WELL mentality & go through the list of MIDDLE & SENIOR LEVEL MANAGEMENT cadres of the FORTUNE 500 companies, TOP MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS & PROFESSORS IN TOP GRADE UNIVERSITIES AROUND THE WORLD, irrespective of their location. They will encounter the rare phenomena of QUALITY in abundant QUANTITY. However it is a wake up call for India. It can not & should not depend only on the so called DEVELOPED markets. It is high time it starts concentrating on regions which have tremendous potential of growth. It should realize that if Middle-eastern countries have only 1% of its market share, it is not the fault of these countries. It is just because India is not offering what they need. That is the reason countries like Egypt are trying to seize a wide open opportunity. Just to give an example, a common accounts and inventory software program like TALLY which has daily sales in thousands around the world and which can have daily applications in tens of thousands of business houses across the Arab countries can not even cope up with the very basic requirement in this region – the Arabic dates. Is anybody listening?
Posted by Buddhadeb Mookerjee, Dubai, UAE on 11 September 2007 at 18:00 UAE time
I fully agree with Carlyle Fernandez. The depth, breadth and quality of outsourcing services provided by India is acknowledged as the best in the world by the world. When it comes to the language factor it is common knowledge that most developments are initially done in the English language and subsequently translated into various other languages including Arabic. It is extremely difficult for any Arab country to compete with India in outsourcing unless they improve their English language skills in large numbers. Even then India has and will retain several years' advantage.
Posted by Carlyle Fernandez, Mumbai, India on 11 September 2007 at 14:50 UAE time
India has long since been known as the No. 1 destination for companies to outsource and it will be some time before a virtual unknown like Egypt can stake claims to a similar monopoly. The closest threat that India has to its position is from China.
Nearshoring definitely helps improve operational excellency and in this case, the language similarity. But the service providing company will barely make an impact to its bottom line if it only provides services through nearshoring. Like Indian companies, they will have to adopt a business model that will include a strategic mix of onshore, offshore and nearshore elements to take advantage of cost arbitration.
Another reason why Egypt will never pose a threat to India is because Indian companies primarily service the US and European geographies. Probably 1% of the total outsourcing revenues of India are generated from the Middle East.
The article also talks about a time difference, which is a couple of hours behind India. If India can successfully manage great time differences like those of the US and the UK, a few hours shouldn't make much of a difference.
All said and done, the article should be retitled as "Egypt - struggling to become no1 outsourcing destination". It'll be a cold day in hell before Egypt can match the depth, range and quality of IT services that India now provides to the world.